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October 23, 2008

WAITING GAME

By Johnny Thornton

GOOD HOPE — A bad first quarter by Good Hope High was erased when the Raiders scored four times in the second quarter and prevented an upset by Carbon Hill, running away from the Bulldogs 57-14 Thursday night at James Shabel stadium.

Good Hope had the lead in the first quarter, but it was only by two points. The Raiders fumbled three times — one inside the Carbon Hill 7-yard line — and another that resulted in the Bulldogs returning it 70 yards for a touchdown.

In the second quarter, Taylor Hollis emerged as the leader for the Raiders as they followed his quest for success.

Hollis scored three times in the period and would end the evening rushing for 156 yards on 10 carries and four touchdowns.

“We looked a lot better in the second quarter than we did in the first quarter,” coach Chris Moss said after the Raiders’ seventh straight victory. “They made a game of it. We didn’t help ourselves. We’ve got to get ready for Farview. They will be hungry for a win.”

Hollis started the scoring by romping 42 yards for a touchdown on Good Hope’s third offensive play. Caleb Neighbors hit the extra point with 9:05 to go in the first quarter.

A fumbled pitch by Bryant Parkhurst was recovered in the end zone for a safety that extended the Good Hope lead to 9-0. The Raiders tried to add to their lead on the next series, but Jake King lost the ball at the Carbon Hill 30 and Jamal Henderson picked it up, taking it 70 yards to the end zone and the extra point from Blaine Eads had the Bulldogs trailing 9-7 with 3:16 to go in the opening quarter.

After that, the Raiders took command of the game, scoring on their next possession. A 75-yard drive was carried into the end zone second quarter with Hollis scoring from nine yards out to make it 15-7. He had touchdown runs of 23 and 25 in the quarter and left the field at halftime with 117 yards on six attempts and four touchdowns.

Good Hope had 159 yards on the ground in the second quarter explosion and gained 298 yards by halftime to enjoy a 36-7 lead.

Josh Stancil tallied two rushing touchdowns in the second half for the Raiders and Micah Posey returned a fumble 35 yards for a score in Good Hope getting its season high in point production.

Moss had his offensive starters on the sidelines when the Raiders had the ball at their 20 after a Carbon Hill scoring pass of nine yards from Nicholas Woodley to Brett Walling. That came with four minutes remaining in the third quarter and the reserves finished strong the rest of the way in helping Good Hope gain 161 yards in the second half to conclude the Class 3A, Region 7 game with 459 yards offense, 418 by the ground attack on 55 carries.

Good Hope held Carbon Hill to 100 yards offense and forced the Bulldogs into committing four turnovers, two interceptions and two fumbles.

The Raiders finish the regional schedule at 6-1 and wait the outcome of the Hamilton-Vinemont game to determine the champion of Region 7 along with the playoff seeds.

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